The Australian Paradigm: A Point in Time Snapshot of Gifted Education Across Australian State and Territory Policy Documents, Guidance, and Web-Based Information

Abstract

Gifted education has been recognised as a fractured field that can be categorised using varying paradigmatic approaches. Over the past thirty years, Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talents (DMGT) has maintained a strong influence in Australia, which means that the paradigmatic assumptions that are present in this model have shaped the Australian policy landscape. With recent changes in the gifted education policy and guidance space in many Australian states and territories, it is appropriate to explore whether there is a paradigmatic shift occurring. This research adopted a document study methodology, and found that the DMGT is still a favoured model, which means that an essentialist vein continues to flow through many of the Australian state and territory gifted education approaches. At the same time, most states and territories are attempting to embrace more dynamic approaches to supporting giftedness, which leads to paradigmatic confusion at the policy and guidance level.